I move silently to stand by the window and stare in the childhood memories about the forgotten picture book. And I feel as though a fairy with a magic wand whispers words in my ear. I fly in a world lost long ago and full of wonderful stories about princes, princesses, weird, big-eyed beings… and all of them are looking at me. They expect me to awaken them for new life.

Elisaveta Angelova revives on canvas the fairytale world of childhood with naïve fascination, wide-eyed in astonishment and withan amused soul. Recreated as if with the purest of children’s perceptions, it becomes the scene of nymphs, water spirits, princesses, angels, forest denizens, but also of present-day characters like the McDonald’s clown and Spiderman.

The whirlwind of my imagination takes me to a lot different world full of the whirlwind of change and the whirlwind of love, Elisaveta Angelovasays about her works. Quite naturally she has chosen Gone with the Wind as the motto of her fourth one-artist exhibition with twenty paintings on display at Vаzrazdane Gallery in Plovdiv until 12 February. According to art critics her artworks combine fairytale elements and bizarre whims with the heavenly purity of human faces.

Elisaveta Angelova has graduated from high school in her native city of Burgas with the subject of art. Later she studied church painting at the Academy of Music, Dance and Fine Arts in Plovdiv and pedagogy of painting at Shumen University. The 31-year-old artist has taken part in many exhibitions and has already won two prizes.

The surreal plots of the young painter are intertwined with her daily round – a mother of two little kids she transfers the fairytale characters form children’s books to her works. Her paintings though do not remain confined to the world of children, but also convey universal messages for peace, love and hope. Elisaveta Angelovasays that she uses the wisdom of fairy tales in life, because the lessons they teach can sometimes make us better. And she adds that adults should also read fairy tales – as a way to purge their souls, as a reminder that the every evil is punished, sooner or later.

An adult should for a short while at least go back to the pure heart of a child and feel the kindness in him, because I am convinced that everybody keeps their essential human kindness, the artist claims. There are no evil people – in us we always have love, hope, peace and if we do good things, we will get good in return.

AmongstElisaveta Angelova’s fairytale plots, her painting A Family Portrait stands somewhat aloof. In it the artist peeps into a worrisome moment of the future. In the painting the mother holds a machine gun, one of the kids wears a gas mask, and the other child lies in the father’s lap.

This future is not that distant, it is already happening, says Elisaveta Angelova. In many parts of the world things look pretty much like in the picture – women carry guns, fight on many fronts including real warfare, while men bring children up and look after them like mothers. It seems that the roles of men and women in today’s world have interchanged and this is the message of this painting. This is the world ahead, although it is hard to predict the details.

Fortunately, in the colorful jigsaw of paintings, the family portrait is a mere particle encircled by the lovely, calm and secure world of Elisaveta Angelova.

This hope is inherent in every human being, she says. It is inborn and thank God, I think we keep it until the end. It is hope in goodness, peace and God. Perhaps we should turn more to our inner world, feel the love we have and chose a happier ending for the events that take place.

English Daniela Konstantinova

Photos: courtesy of Elisaveta Angelova